Peterborough 3 Wigan Athletic 2

Paul Kendrick

Wigan Athletic paid a high price for failing to hammer home their first-half superiority as they slipped to a last-gasp defeat at Peterborough, who leapfrog them into second spot in League One.

The visitors were the dominant side for almost all of the opening period, but had only Michael Jacobs’ deflected effort on 33 minutes to show for their efforts.

And they were pegged back just two minutes after the restart when Junior Morias levelled the scores after Latics failed to clear a cross from the left.

That was the way it stayed until six minutes time, despite both sides creating - and squandering - enough chances to have won several matches.

Posh edged in front on 84 minutes through Morias’ second goal, a firmly-struck effort that was too good for Jamie Jones.

Latics showed their resilience and responded immediately, when Lee Evans’ left-wing corner was stabbed home at the far post by substitute Ryan Colclough.

However, there was still to be a late twist, and it came at the ‘wrong’ end, with Jack Marriott controlling superbly before slipping his shot past Jones and inside the far corner.

It was only Wigan’s second league defeat of the campaign - and saw them concede the same number of goals in the second 45 minutes as they had during the first eight games.

The annoying thing was the fact there was hint whatsoever that might be in store, given the almost total dominance the visitors enjoyed in the first period.

With Nick Powell pulling the strings in the No.10 role, Latics should have been out of sight by the interval.

A sublime early cross from the former Manchester United man found Ivan Toney at the far post, but the striker couldn’t get enough on it.

Powell then threaded through a lovely ball to Jacobs, whose shot was half-stopped by goalkeeper Jonathan Bond and hacked away from almost on the goalline.

A fantastic move from Latics - one side of the pitch to the other - saw Evans switch play to find Jacobs, who played in Reece James, with the pull-back finding Gavin Massey in space on the penalty spot.

However, the finish was awful and soared way over the top.

Against the run of play, Posh almost scored with their first attack, when a cross from Marcus Maddison cross found Morais, whose flick header looped over the advancing Jones, but also inches over the bar.

Having created several chances for his colleagues, it was then Powell’s turn to fluff his lines with a free header from an Evans corner.

But it mattered not as Latics took the lead just after the half-hour mark, when Jacobs pulled the trigger from distance and saw it loop off a defender and past the helpless Bond.

It was almost two shortly after when Nathan Byrne got to the byline only to fail to locate a team-mate with the pull-back, with Toney and then Massey coming within an inch of scoring in the space 15 seconds, only to be denied by the brilliance of Bond.

Jacobs then took delivery of another nice ball from Powell, but again he couldn’t hit the target from a good position.

After a prolonged period on the ropes, Posh almost hit back just before the break with a classic counter-attack.

A clever passing move cut through the Latics defence like a knife through butter, sending through Maddison one-on-one - only for Jones to save well.

Sadly, the respite was only temporary, with the home side levelling the scores within two minutes of the restart.

Latics couldn’t clear a cross from the left, and the finish from Morias was emphatic and past Jones before he could move.

It almost went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds, with a Maddison free-kick being headed only inches wide by Marriott who was unmarked at the far post.

Marriott then fired wide from a great position, before racing through on goal only to be denied by a fabulous save from Jones - who immediately berated those in front for allowing it to happen.

Even that didn’t rouse Latics out of the slumber, nor did the double change that saw Powell and Massey depart to be replaced by Max Power and Colclough.

Only desperate defending cleared another Posh corner, although that allowed Jacobs to embark on a 60-yard run into the home box, that should have ended with a goal rather than a good save from Bond.

Maddison did likewise at the other end, with Jones again saving his side, before Morias showed his colleague how it’s down with a cool finish to make it 2-1.

That was the signal for Latics to bring on Will Grigg, for Toney, and Latics were level within seconds, with Colclough getting a decisive touch on to Evans’ corner.

Unfortunately, there was to be a sting in the tail, and it arrived with with 89 minutes on the clock, Marriott finally getting his goal to send the visiting fans home with a bitter taste in their mouths.